Can Discussions in Cambridge Help Afghans Build a Post-Taliban Future? — The Diplomat

In the past, too many plans for Afghanistan have been designed far from the people expected to live under them. On the surface, the Cambridge Afghanistan Series, organized by the Mosaic Global Foundation, may seem to be more of the same. But the series is genuinely attempting something different, which is not to hand people of Afghanistan another foreign-made political formula, but to create a space in which Afghans themselves can identify the principles, institutions, and sequence required to reclaim their political future. On September 4 and 5, the Mosaic Global Foundation will convene the fifth Cambridge Afghanistan Series (CAS V) at Jesus College, Cambridge. It will bring together Afghan political voices, civil society actors, human rights advocates, academics, and other stakeholders to discuss pathways toward peace, inclusion, and prosperity. At CAS III in 2024, six major political factions, including two major armed resistance groups, presented their visions for Afghanistan. An independent examination found that, despite their public divisions, more than 90 percent of their proposals overlapped in substance. CAS IV in 2025 began a more open discussion of the remaining disagreements. I participated in CAS IV in 2025. I did not see complete unity, nor did I expect it. Afghanistan’s political actors carry different histories, represent different constituencies, bear different grievances, and have different ideas about the state. What…